Our Post Private World

02 Apr Our Post Private World

Only a modicum of imagination is needed, given the recent revelations regarding Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, that in the VERY near future there’s not going to be a shred of personal privacy available to anyone. It started a number of years ago (which seems eons with today’s fast pace) with Edward Snowden, NSA, metadata and etc. We were assured that the disturbing news regarding our privacy had no individual relevance and posed no threat to our personal privacy. It’s obvious, looking back, no one outside of the data gatherers had the real facts. Welcome to our post private world where we are rapidly grasping that “more open” or “more transparent” does not guarantee everyone a good outcome.

It’s extraordinary the amount of personal data most of us involved in internet marketing/commerce have on thousands and tens of thousands of individuals. This would have been beyond mind-boggling 25 years ago. Yet today it’s our everyday business currency. Most of us have a minimum of 30 to 50 data points for every person we reach, far often a great deal more.

The near and long-term implications for social media, governmental overreach and etc., are too complex for most of us to intelligently discuss. However, living with no privacy is something, as individuals, we will have to address every day without the perk of “vacation days”. At the moment our options appear limited ranging from trying to drop off the grid, which has almost unmanageable financial consequences for those with meaningful economic responsibilities, to being extraordinarily careful as to where and how we share our information, which at this point doesn’t seem to be a game one can win.

One thing we can do is clear out some mental space and make PRIVACY a priority that we stay informed about, we expect protection for, demand our leaders intelligently address and create harsh disincentives when abused. However things move forward, we have to all learn how to live successfully in a very new set of circumstances. All of us have to move up on the learning curve.